Psychiatric patient goes missing for second time

JUNCTION CITY, Ore. – A man who escaped detention at the Oregon State Hospital in 2017 has done it again.

Peace Dawn Wickham was placed in OHA custody in November 2016 after he was found guilty but insane on charges of assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and felon in possession of a restricted weapon.

Wickham left the hospital’s Junction City campus without authorization on October 5, 2017. He was found the next day in Eugene.

After the incident, the OHA said they’d review the circumstances leading up to the unauthorized departure of Wickham to determine what went wrong and to prevent it from happening in the future.

On October 14, 2019, the OHA said the psychiatric patient had, once again, gone missing.

“He was last seen at approximately 12:30 p.m., on the grounds of Luther House, 1824 University St., Eugene, Oregon, where he was attending a group activity,” OHA stated. “Wickham walked away from the group and left the immediate area.”

The latest circumstances mirror how Wickham got away from authorities in 2017. He was attending group treatment at Laurel Hill Center in Eugene in that case.

OHA doesn’t consider Wickham a danger to the public, but citizens are being warned to keep their distance and call 9-1-1 instead of approaching the man.

OHA said, “Hospital officials, who reported the missing patient to state and local law enforcement agencies, described Wickham as a male, 6 feet 2 inches tall, 255 pounds, with a shaved head and brown eyes. He has two tattoos, the state of California on his right forearm and Hawaii on his left forearm. When last seen, he was wearing a gray fleece sweatshirt, tan pants, and tan hiking shoes with rubber laces.”